Chamber Welcomes New Leadership in 2009 and Looks Forward to New Challenges

The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce is ringing in 2009 by welcoming new Board Chairman Michael Sullivan, a vice president at Crawford and Associates Engineering PC.

As we close on a year that brought tough times for local businesses and the county's economy, as well as the global economy, outgoing Board Chairman John Maiuri shares his thoughts about what was accomplished during his two-year tenure and issues that still need to be addressed. Sullivan talks about his plans for his chairmanship as well.

The accomplishment Maiuri cites at the top of his list is the Chamber's ongoing efforts to become an even stronger advocate for local businesses.

“The primary focus for me, and ultimately for the Chamber, over the last two years was being a more significant advocate for business development, whether new or existing,” he said. “We spent a lot of time attending planning board meetings, working with the Columbia Hudson Partnership, and more, to advocate on behalf of members and potential new members.”

Guiding people through the many and varied local planning processes wasn't always easy but, Maiuri believes, most of the projects went well. One of longest running projects was the Hudson Park project, which finally received all necessary approvals and will come to fruition in the next few years.

“It's unfortunate what the Hudson Park planners and others have to go through,” added Maiuri.

Taking their advocacy one step further, the Chamber undertook a project to gather all the available planning and zoning board information for the entire county into a guidebook. The project was spearheaded by Jim Galvin and Sullivan, and has been bound into book entitled “Guide to Navigating the Local Planning Process”. The booklet will be made available to anyone who needs it, from prospective businesses to existing Chamber members.

The guide breaks down, on a town-by-town basis, board meeting dates, places and submission guidelines “Pretty much the entire process, inclusive of all the forms that need to be handed in, is included in the guide,” said Maiuri. “We had a great deal of cooperation from all the towns. What's good for the community is ultimately good for business.”

Maiuri is also proud of the Chamber's significant number of yearly events – at least 30 in 2008, with participation by well over 2,500 people. The Chamber co-sponsored its first-ever public art show “Best in Show”, with the Columbia County Council on the Arts (CCCA), and helped form the Performing Arts Collective of Columbia County.

“That's quite an accomplishment, and it bodes well for cooperation with the arts community,” he noted.

But even as he wraps up two successful years, Maiuri said many challenges remain. “The county's decision to hire a new economic development director (the Chamber was represented on the search committee) was a step in the right direction,” he said. “But the costs associated with local and county government and schools need to be addressed in these lean economic times. The multiple layers of government within the county present many opportunities for consolidation.”

“Schools should also look at streamlining and consolidating,” Maiuri said. While it's important to maintain quality schools, school taxes are becoming an increasing burden. With a county population of only 60,000 people, Maiuri wonders why we need five different school superintendents and administrative staff, for example.

“Overall we're located in a good spot; the future should be bright. We need to be smart about what we're doing from an elected official standpoint - look at ways to cut costs in school districts, government, etc.,” he said. “There's no reason why we can't be doing what most large businesses do, which is look for ways to be more productive and work with less.

“I think the Chamber can help, get people talking and thinking about these issues. Business supports a great deal of the county and I think it needs to be listened to.”

Incoming Chairman Sullivan said he plans to continue building upon the Chamber's accomplishments.

“There have been tremendous advancements at the Chamber in the past 10 years. Past Chairs John Maiuri, Rick Bianchi and Andy Howard did a great job adding value to membership. We want to continue the idea of advocacy for our members.”

Sullivan will see the new planning guide to fruition, with the eventual goal of posting its contents online and linking it to the Chamber website.

“The reason we developed the guide was to educate first time applicants,” he said. “The worst thing a person can do is come unprepared to that first planning or zoning board meeting. This way they can prepare ahead instead of learning as they go.”

Sullivan said the Chamber will continue being supportive of business projects and become more vocal at the planning and zoning level. The Chamber's Leadership Columbia County program will continue to identify and develop future leaders.

“That's very important if the county is going to continue to advance,” Sullivan noted.

Looking at infrastructure issues such as the lack of high speed Internet access for the county's rural areas is important, he added. The difficulty is in finding the best way to address key issues.

“The Chamber has been approached in the past by several people and groups about the issue. It's something that's worth considering; we have to figure how to get behind it and the best way to make it affordable.”

Sullivan also thinks it's important to keep an eye on local land use planning and how it is managed. The county contains limited areas where businesses can locate and it's important to make sure they stay viable, he said.

“Those areas are shrinking and we have to make sure they are maintained.”

The Chamber looks forward to working with Ken Flood, the new Commissioner of Planning and Economic Development, he said. “We're very excited about Ken. He's got a lot of experience at the state level and has a good chance of making a big impact.”

Sullivan agreed with Maiuri that there are plenty of challenges ahead. Affordable housing for employees would help attract businesses, he said. And he agreed that lowering the tax burden by finding ways to consolidate costs, while maintaining high educational standards, is important.

“I'd like to see people remain interested in that because all those things contribute to a larger business's decision to come here,” he said. “Young people are leaving our area in record numbers for various reasons. If we want to change those trends, we have to change the reason for them.”

Under his guidance, Sullivan said, the Chamber will continue looking for ways to increase value for membership. Next week the Chamber will conduct a survey of members regarding their issues and concerns, to see how the Chamber may be able to help with common problems.

“The Chamber's in a position now where we can really start to become advocates for new and existing businesses. We're much more than social networking. This Chamber has come quite a ways and I hope to continue it in that direction.”